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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24724168">Scream</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeybladeCryptography/pseuds/KeybladeCryptography'>KeybladeCryptography</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingdom Hearts</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Heart-to-Heart, Holding Hands, M/M, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Pre-Relationship, mildly monstrous Roxas solely because I think that's cool</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:48:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>980</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24724168</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeybladeCryptography/pseuds/KeybladeCryptography</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You took my hand and then we both started running, both started running, there's no place to go.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Roxas/Vanitas (Kingdom Hearts)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Scream</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/gifts"></a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Vanitas turns away and panic rises in Roxas’s throat, watching the light of the perpetual sunset eat away at his inky silhouette. "Wait," he chokes out, "don't go."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Why shouldn't I?" Roxas can't see his face but he can imagine Vanitas's lips drawn back in a snarl, the pink of his tongue like carrion, his canines just a little too sharp to be human. He knows his teeth are the same way. "There's nothing for me here. There's nothing for me anywhere."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Then," and Roxas grasps his arm then, a little too tight. His claws have slipped out again in his frenzy and Vanitas flinches but Roxas doesn't let him go, lest he fade away. "Then don't go without me."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Vanitas swings his head around like a wild animal. His gold eyes glint like cursed treasure from a foreign land that Roxas shouldn't touch but he's greedy enough to try to claim them, to claim him regardless. Vanitas smirks. "Fine. I s'pose I can let you tag along." He pries Roxas’s hand off his arm then grasps it. Their hearts beat together through their palms. "As long as you can keep up."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Vanitas drags him into the darkness and it burns his eyes and stings his skin without the coat to protect him but Roxas has endured pain far worse. They both have. The corridor spits them out in an ashy wasteland. It seems familiar but Roxas can't quite identify it. "Where are we?" he asks.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Vanitas tightens his grip on Roxas’s hand and scowls at him but he can't seem to muster much heat behind it. It's no wonder; this place is so cold. "It's the Badlands, stupid. This is the part on the other side of the cliffs, where the sun doesn't hit."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh," Roxas says. He glances around uncertainly and tenses when something scuttles by. He nearly readies his keyblade, expecting a Heartless, but the creature's eyes are a beady red rather than a luminous yellow. Unversed. They're hidden in every crack, behind every wall, beneath every ledge. Roxas tries to count them and has his gaze sweeps over the landscape his eyes linger on a corner beneath an overhang, littered with scraps of soiled fabric and torn paper and broken things.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas understands in that moment that he has seen something he was not meant to see because Vanitas starts running.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas stumbles at first but Vanitas offers him no time to recover so Roxas doesn't take any. They fall into step, footfalls echoing through the dry air, pulses roaring in their ears. The moon watches them with cold disdain and their shadows stretch before them on the earth.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>For the first time, Roxas is sure he understands what it is to be alive.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Vanitas laughs, softly at first, but the sound grows until it is manic and deafening. He is not happy. With every new burst of laughter, Vanitas's shadow trembles because its owner is on the verge of falling apart. Nevertheless, Roxas laughs alongside him and the silence is shattered by a cacophony of every emotion they have been denied. Joy and despair, hope and fear, anger and love. Their feelings are engraved in every sound, in every footprint, in every speck of dust they stir up. The pressure builds, the song swells, and Vanitas's lungs burst.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The two of them come to a dead stop and Vanitas tilts his head back and screams.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas's heart stops and then breaks and it's a thousand times worse and a thousand times better than never having had one at all. Vanitas's scream is a tidal wave, crashing against his ears, flooding the synthetic fibers of his muscles, filling up the hollow of his bones. If he just stands there in silence, he'll surely drown so he draws in a deep breath and howls.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Vanitas's eyes go wide as Roxas’s voice joins his once again but he doesn't reject it. He screams again, the final note rising into a trembling screech and Roxas answers in counterpoint with a wild shriek that descends into a growl deep in the back of his throat.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A requiem for the years stolen from them and killed before their very eyes.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A celebration for all the years yet to be lived. Together.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas’s voice is the first to give out. His brand new vocal cords aren't fully broken in yet and his ribs rattle as he coughs. His lungs beg for the mercy he himself isn't familiar with. Vanitas cries out until the best he can manage is a hushed rasp.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Are you . . . okay?" Roxas asks. It's a stupid question with an obvious answer, but what else is he supposed to say?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Vanitas kicks him in the calf. It doesn't hurt. "Nah. What about you, Roxy?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Probably not," Roxas says. He should be, shouldn't he? Everything's okay now. But he's not, but his heart still hurts, but he's still here screaming into the night.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Vanitas snorts. "Don't tell me you're dumber than I thought."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh, shut up."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>All is quiet for a moment. The stars wink above them, far away but just within reach.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Are you really going to disappear?" Roxas asks.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Vanitas waves his hand. "Oh, hell if I know. Not anytime soon. I still have a few things I need to know."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Roxas turns to look Vanitas in the eye. Vanitas turns away. "Like what?" </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Like . . . Like about my memories. And if I can find a place to belong."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I could help you look, if you want," Roxas says.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You'd better, since you were begging me not to go."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I didn't beg!"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yes, you did!"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Did not!"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Did too!"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Did not!"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Did not!"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Did too- Wait. Oh, shut up, Vanitas."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Vanitas elbows him in the ribs. "Fine, but only if you shut up too."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Fine."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hand in hand, they keep a silent vigil as the sky explodes into a sunrise.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is Sam's fault for being emo so jot that down. If you want you can come follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/CrepusculeChaos">Twitter</a>. Okay have a nice day.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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